Ahmedabad: Five persons were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the alleged gang rape of three tribal women and a minor girl here last week, police said.
The gang rape and loot incident had taken place on the night of October 18 near Viramgam here, police said.
"Five persons who belong to Vedhwa (Devipujak) gang were nabbed by the local crime branch team near Sarkhej-Sanand crossroads while they were on way to their native Saida village of Bhavnagar district from Radhanpur," Inspector General (Ahmedabad Range) R B Brahmbhatt told reporters.
"They were identified as Chanubhai Hemabhai Vedhwa (45), father-sons trio of Keshubhai Hemabhai Vedhwa (55), Mahesh Keshubhai Vedhwa (25), Ramesh Keshubhai Vedhwa (20) and Valku Shivabhai Vedhwa (20), all residents of Saida village," Brahmbhatt said.
Two more persons involved in the alleged loot-cum-gang rape are still absconding, he added.
The five who have been nabbed have confessed to their crimes, the IG said.
During sustained interrogation, they also confessed to their involvement in 40 crimes of loot, dacoity, murder and rape across the state.
Seven unidentified men had looted Rs 32,000 cash and silver jewellery worth Rs 20,000 before raping three tribal women and a minor girl on the night of October 18 near Hansalpur village in Viramgam near here, he said.
The victims, originally from Garbada in Dahod district, were working on a construction site of Narmada canal project. They were sleeping in temporary tents near the site when the incident happened.
Police said the five had committed crimes in Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Banaskantha, Patan in North Gujarat, Vadodara, Godhra in Central Gujarat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar in Saurashtra and Surat in South Gujarat among other districts of the state.
The gang committed four crimes each in Ahmedabad (Rural), Kheda and Surat, one each in Ahmedabad city, Patan and Sabarkantha, seven in Banaskantha, five in Mehsana, nine in Vadodara (Rural) and two each in Godhra and Gandhinagar, police said.
Their modus operandi involved looting people before gang raping women, they said adding, the gang used to frequently shift its bases, making it difficult for police to locate them.
In the current case, police said the gang knew about the tribal families who had come to work as daily wagers on the construction site of Narmada canal and did a recce of the place in the afternoon, before committing the crime at night.
Police also said the gang generally targeted those families who never bothered to complain to police about the crimes committed on them.
District Superintendent of Police Gagandeep Gambhir said "Fifteen days back, the gang had looted and attacked a police constable in Mehsana. The same gang had looted and killed another police constable in Vadodara who was on night patrolling duty last year."
Brahmbhatt said the same gang was involved in the 2009 Aslali (Ahmedabad rural police station) loot-cum-rape case and the 2011 Sanand rape case.
Some gang members involved in the 2011 Sanand rape case are behind bars, police said adding, a detailed probe would throw more light on the crimes committed by the gang.
PTI
